


Just Got the Taste For It

by chromyrose



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Magic, Confessions, Fluff, Getting Together, Herbology, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Potions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-13 21:43:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14121450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chromyrose/pseuds/chromyrose
Summary: Ennoshita works in his family's flower shop, supplying potions ingredients for all the magic folk of Torono town. When Nishinoya, magic apprentice of the Ukai family, comes in one day after a potion brewing mishap, Ennoshita accidentally plants the seed of an idea that turns out nothing like he expects it to.





	Just Got the Taste For It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [asofthaven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/asofthaven/gifts).



> The concept for this fic took me some time to workshop and get to in its final stage; my recipient, asofthaven, had a lot of great prompts in their Dear Creator list, but I kept being drawn back to the Magic!AU concept. This is my first time writing Ennoshita, but he ended up being the POV character and I had a lot of fun with his voice! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it, especially you, asofthaven!
> 
> Please note that even though there is a love potion involved, everything in this fic is 100% consensual and it's all sweet-natured fluff!
> 
> Title comes from the Carly Rae Jepsen song "I Really Like You."

In Ennoshita's entire extended family, he's only aware of two people with any inkling of magic: his mother's mother, and one of his cousins. It's almost a wonder that his family has managed to weave their lives into the tiny town of Torono, where magic is as abundant as grass, except that his great-grandfather was clever and carved out a little niche for their family to fill. 

Four generations later, Ennoshita has inherited the role of herbologist and clerk at his family's flower shop. They're in the dog days of summer, when many of the flowers are at their fullest bloom, and this year's sun is especially scalding so Ennoshita is kept busy with all of the different watering schedules. He's so invested in the task that it startles him when the bell above the door rings, and Ennoshita finds out who it is before he even looks up from the potted peppermint plant he's tending to.

“Chikara!” 

“Nishinoya,” Ennoshita returns as he stands. He's fairly certain that all of the hanging plants are swaying with the force of Nishinoya's entry and his booming voice, and so he can't help the little frown on his face. “What can I help you with?” 

“Old man Ukai wants me to get chamomile,” Nishinoya sniffs disinterestedly. “And lavender. That stuff, you know.” 

“Stuff–” Ennoshita repeats, deadpan. “Ukai-san was just in here two days ago for chamomile and lavender; he said they were replenishing their stock of Calming Draught while the lavender was in bloom.”

“Haha!” Nishinoya's laugh is loud and strained, and his smile is sheepish; suddenly Ennoshita very much does Not Want to Know. “About that! I maybe got a little distracted while I was supposed to be watching the pot, and some of the ingredients kind of burned?”

Ennoshita feels the vein in his forehead throb. “So you burned it,” he clarifies. Nishinoya averts his gaze and scrubs the nape of his neck with an open palm.

“Well, yeah... but that's why I'm here! I'll get new ingredients, start the thing over, and _finally_ finish this section of my training so I can move on to something cooler!” 

Ennoshita strides across the shop and grabs a glass jar from the china cabinet without looking, relying on muscle memory to pluck up the right one. He opens it and smiles when he sees the small, shriveled white flowers, catches a whiff of their smell even though they've been dried. When he turns back to Nishinoya, that smile fades away. 

“I know it's easy to forget, but it takes my family time and effort to grow these plants, Nishinoya. Please don't take our work for granted.”

Nishinoya's expression morphs from apologetic sheepishness to outright horror so dramatically, Ennoshita almost sees it happen in slow motion. His mouth is left hanging open, and then he frowns and frantically waves his hands.

“Chikara, no! I'd never take your hard work for granted,” he insists, color high in his cheekbones and his amber eyes ablaze. He slams his palms down on the wooden countertop, then adds, “We’d be nothing without you! Even the Ukai family would be nothing without you guys.” 

“That’s too much…” Ennoshita answers slowly, thinking about just how much magic and influence the Ukai family has held in Torono since the town’s inception; they’re one of the more powerful families in all of Miyagi, even. But Nishinoya’s expression is fixed into a hard stare, so he gives up on trying to contradict him. The warmth of the compliment lingers, and so Ennoshita finds himself musing aloud, “So, Calming Draughts…? 

Nishinoya makes a sound that’s somewhere between a whine and a huff, and drops himself bodily onto the counter. “I don’t like making potions, but Calming Draughts are the worst. They make me feel so _itchy_ , like they're getting under my skin.”

“It almost sounds like you’re allergic to them,” he jokes, but as soon as Ennoshita hears himself he pauses. “Wait, isn’t your magic based in lightning?” 

Nishinoya lifts his head up curiously. “Yeah. You knew that?” He asks, and Ennoshita wonders if he's just imagining Nishinoya's brightness. It's probably just his magic at work, giving him that otherworldly glow. Ennoshita picks up a small pouch, and begins filling it with the chamomile blooms. 

“Yeah,” he mumbles, before he clears his throat and adds, “Your magic manifests as energy, so maybe the vapors from a Calming Draught make you feel sick because they're affecting your magic?” 

“Chikara, that's so smart!” Nishinoya cries. “You're a genius! The problem isn't with me, it's that Calming Draughts are stupid–”

“–I didn't say that–”

“–and they’re slowly poisoning me!” 

“I definitely did not say that.” Ennoshita sighs. “It’s just a theory, anyways. Ukai-san would know more about magic than a mundane like me, so you should trust him. He probably isn’t trying to poison you.”

“Only probably,” Nishinoya points out. “And I don’t care that you don’t have magic; you’re smart, and what you said sounds right to me.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that Ukai-san is expecting you to brew it anyways. How are you going to advance your apprenticeship if you ignore your assignments?” 

The question makes Nishinoya pause, but even when he’s quiet, he still fills the room – an accomplishment, given that the room is already brimming with greenery. Ennoshita can’t quite look away from the lines of Nishinoya’s body, his compact form, as he assumes an almost exaggerated thoughtful posture. 

“Huh… I guess if I’m not gonna do what Old Man Ukai told me to do… I’m gonna have to brew something even better. Something so advanced, he won’t be able to deny my talent even if he wants to.” 

Ennoshita scoffs, though not unkindly, at the thought of Nishinoya surprising Ukai-san. “He’s more than seventy years old, Nishinoya, he’s probably seen everything you can come up with already. You’d have to pull out something really impressive, like a love potion, or–”

Ennoshita cuts himself off as he belatedly realizes the disaster he’s suggested. His gaze meets Nishinoya’s, and he’s devastated to see the surefire spark of a bad idea taking root in his friend’s mind as a wide grin spreads all over Nishinoya’s face. 

“Chikara, that’s perfect!” 

“It’s _illegal_ ,” Ennoshita wails. 

“Only if you intend to use it!” Nishinoya cackles. 

Ennoshita’s mind scrambles for another argument to deter Nishinoya, but he knows it’s a losing battle to try and dissuade his stubborn friend from anything he’s already decided to do. In the end, all he can come up with is to say, “Love potions only work when the brewer has a specific person in mind while they’re making it. You have to know that person inside and out, and make the potion tailored to them. Otherwise you’ll end up with a temporary aphrodisiac, and that won’t impress Ukai-san at all.”

Nishinoya goes silent, and for a moment, Ennoshita thinks he’s managed to put out the sparks of this fire. But then he’s on the receiving end of Noya’s thousand-watt smile, and it leaves him dumbstruck. 

“Don’t worry, Chikara, I already have the perfect person in mind,” Nishinoya says earnestly as he holds out his hand. “Now, I’ll be needing that chamomile, please.”

\--

After that day, Ennoshita goes more than two full weeks without seeing Nishinoya. He worries more each day, until he can’t help but ask anyone who comes in to the shop if they know what he’s up to. Tanaka laughs off his concern with assertions that do nothing to put Ennoshita's mind at ease. Suga-san smiles sympathetically, but Ennoshita doesn’t miss the way his lips quiver like he’s trying not to laugh. And the one time he comes in, Ukai-san’s grandson Keishin grunts so irritably when Ennoshita hesitantly mentions Nishinoya that he quickly changes the subject. 

It gets to the point where he has to train himself not to look up excitedly whenever the bell above the shop door chimes, and so when it does on the sixteenth day without a sign of Nishinoya, Ennoshita is slow to look up from the leaves of the thyme plant he's checking on. He smells Nishinoya before he sees him, the heavy scent of ozone that follows him like a stubborn cloud, but he can't quite believe it until their eyes meet. 

“Nishinoya!” He snaps, getting to his feet so quickly he almost kicks over a small potted aloe vera. 

“Chikara!” Nishinoya answers brightly, practically bouncing over to Ennoshita's side. He reaches into a leather satchel thrown over his shoulder and pulls out a glass vial. It's small, only about the length of Ennoshita's hand and as thin as two of his fingers, but the liquid inside is so vibrant that it seems to be glowing. Light reflects off of it unevenly, giving it an iridescent look, with shifting shades of purple, pink, and orange. 

“What is this? It almost looks like you bottled up a sunset.”

Nishinoya gives the bottle a little shake and beams. “It's my love potion.” 

“Your—what?” Ennoshita asks, fully taken aback. “You actually tried that? What did Ukai-san say?”

“He was impressed by my ambition,” Nishinoya responds smugly, but then his smile softens sheepishly. “Ah, but I still have to finish brewing the Calming Draught by the end of this week, and now he’s sure I can do it since I managed to pull this off.”

“So your plan backfired,” Ennoshita comments, his attention fixed once again on the bottle. “Does it actually work?” 

“I don’t know.” Nishinoya presses the bottle into Ennoshita’s palm with a grin. “Why don’t you try it and tell me?”

 _‘That really won’t be necessary,’_ Ennoshita thinks as a treacherous heat floods his cheeks. He purses his lips and hopes his deadpan stare looks convincingly annoyed. “There is no way I’m going to put your mystery potion in my mouth.”

“Aw, come on, Chikara,” Nishinoya goads, his voice full of laughter. He wraps a hand around Ennoshita’s to hold the bottle upright, then uses the other to pull the stopper out, releasing a spiced aroma into the shop. 

“Nishinoya…” 

“Call me Yuu,” Nishinoya insists suddenly. Startled, Ennoshita repeats his name, “Yuu?” and then they’re left staring at one another for a long moment. 

“Well,” Nishinoya starts, pulling his hands back. “If you’re not going to drink it, I will.” 

The bottle’s not in Ennoshita’s hands anymore, as Nishinoya has it pressed to his lips before Ennoshita has the chance to stop him. In one long gulp, he downs more than half the bottle, leaving just a little of the shimmering liquid behind. 

“Are you okay?” Ennoshita asks, quickly followed by, “Are you _insane_?” 

Nishinoya’s gaze darts right up to meet Ennoshita’s and licks a drop of the potion off of his lips, his eyelids low and pupils wide. 

“Yup,” Nishinoya agrees, popping the ‘p’ at the end of the word. “I’m crazy, Chikara. Crazy ‘bout you.”

“Oh my God…” 

As Ennoshita’s mind races through all of the plants he knows that have antitoxin properties, Nishinoya slowly brings his palm up to cup Ennoshita’s cheek as if he’s savoring that first moment of contact. At the touch, Ennoshita’s mind comes to a screeching halt.

“Can I kiss you?” Nishinoya murmurs, his voice almost sounding husky to Ennoshita’s ears, and Ennoshita comes back online in time to push him away by the shoulders. 

“Nishinoya, no. Not while you’re under the effects of a mind-altering substance, I can’t—”

“Hmm… So, if it wasn’t just the potion, would you say yes?” 

A choked noise comes unbidden from Ennoshita’s throat. “I mean, yes, but that’s irrelevant now, since you just drank it, and— why are you smiling so much?” He interrupts himself, confused by the grin that’s tugging so hard at Nishinoya’s cheeks it almost looks painful; are people supposed to be this happy when they’ve been turned down? 

“Gotcha,” Nishinoya croons smugly. “The potion’s a dud, it doesn’t work.” 

“But,” Ennoshita stammers, feeling his ears go red as the truth settles in. “But you said Ukai-san was impressed!”

“Yeah, that I tried such a high level potion and ended up with something that wasn’t toxic sludge,” Nishinoya elaborates. “I may be a genius, Chikara, but even I can’t brew a love potion in less than a month on my first try!” 

“But,” he repeats, his ears burning now. “It seems so real…” 

“It is real,” Nishinoya says with a bright nod, holding up the bottle to show off the dregs. “It’s just not very powerful. It kind of feels like drinking beer, but like, it’ll make even sad drunks into happy, flirty drunks.” 

Ennoshita considers this carefully, then he nods. “Did you also want to kiss me before you took a drink of it…?”

Nishinoya exhales sharply. “Basically since the day I met you, yeah,” he confesses, taking a step closer to Ennoshita. “And you…?”

With a smile, Ennoshita murmurs, “Yeah.” Nishinoya lights up, and immediately rises to his tiptoes, but Ennoshita intercepts him with a hand over his mouth. “But, I’m not taking any chances. We’ve already waited this long, so we can wait for the potion to wear off.” 

Nishinoya slumps over, face stricken. “But— Chikara!” 

“I mean it,” he says sharply, hoping that the elation and anticipation brewing in his stomach aren’t affecting his severity. “Go sit in the corner and wait for it to wear off, I have to finish tending to the pots. And please, try not to set anything on fire.”

“No promises,” Nishinoya grumbles under his breath, before he drags his feet across the floor and then noisily hunkers down as Ennoshita directed. He looks cute, Ennoshita can’t help but notice, even though he’s scowling with his chin rested on his knees. Really cute.

And he's even cuter three hours later, when Ennoshita closes down the shop and Nishinoya _promises_ the potion’s effects have worn off; their first kiss is more than worth the wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Please be sure to let me know what you think by leaving a comment or kudos!


End file.
